A woman who spent an hour driving to five petrol stations ended up in tears after finally getting to a pump at Asda as her tank was empty - and finding she couldn't pay.
Sophie Newton broke down after discovering she would be unable to pay for the petrol using Apple Pay on her phone, and she had no other way to buy the vital fuel.
Sophie asked strangers at the station for help, but no-one stepped up, leaving her with a two-hour ordeal on the forecourt.
She broke down in tears, and a security guard who was managing the queues stepped in to help.
Sophie's mother-in-law drove to the station to pay but her card was not contactless and so wouldn't work at the pump - and the kiosk was closed.
Sophie, 28, says the security guard at Asda helped keep her calm, reports MEN. She said: “It was awful. I kept saying I felt really embarrassed that I had to ask for someone’s help.
“I’m a very independent person and will do anything for myself."
She added: "By this point it was getting up to two hours and I was really upset and emotional.
“I pulled my car and had a cry to myself and thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ My partner was 45 minutes away.”
An Asda security guard named James, who was managing the queues at the time, helped calm Sophie down.
He allowed her to park her vehicle in a nearby car wash bay until a family member was able to help.
“I asked him if I was okay waiting until I could get my partner to me with a card,” Sophie continued.
“I was crying my eyes out by this point. He walked my back over to my car and had a chat with me.
“He really calmed me down, he was so brilliant.”
Sophie’s partner Adam managed to arrive and pay for the fuel.
“James stayed with us the whole time,” Sophie continued. “I felt so alone, scared and embarrassed.
“I felt awful in general so it meant the world for him to be there.”
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